Clothes valet chair



Sept. 22, 1964 T. E. STEIBER 3,149,879

CLOTHES VALET CHAIR Filed Aug. 27, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 12* RVENTQR THE. 01:! URI-1 E. ETEIBER ATTORNEY P 1964 r. E. STEIBER 3,149,879

CLOTHES VALET CHAIR Filed Aug. 27, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 T 0 TW 7 47 a w I [[E lll INVENTOR.

THEUD DRE E.. ETEJEIER BY 51w; a a.

A T'TURNEY United States Patent 3,149,879 CLOTHES VALET CHAIR Theodore E. Steiher, 945 Main St., Bridgeport, Conn. Filed Aug. 27, 1963, Ser. No. 304,828 6 Claims. (Cl. 297191) The present invention relates to a clothes valet chair and has for an object to provide an article of furniture of this type which will have the appearance and function of a conventional chair during normal use, and which upon conversion to a clothes valet use will provide a supporting hanger for such clothing items as coats, vests, trousers, neckties, etc., and which will support such items in a freely suspended manner without wrinkling or distortion through contact with interfering parts of the structure.

A further object is to provide a valet chair which when in use as a clothes valet will support clothing items in a manner not to interfere with the normal use of the chair and, conversely, in such manner that a person sitting in the chair will not contact the supported articles of clothing. Another object is to provide a clothes valet chair which may be instantaneously converted from a conventional chair to a clothes valet simply by swinging a clothes supporting member from an inoperative to an operative position and without the necessity for manipulating catches, struts or other movable devices usually associated with convertible furniture.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein a satisfactory embodiment of the invention is shown. However, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details disclosed but includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a clothes valet chair according to the invention, the same being shown in its position for use as a conventional chair;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation showing the chair converted to a clothes valet;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the chair as seen in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the lines 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along the line 66 of FIG. 3, and showing extensible arms of the coat hanger part of the structure in extended position; v

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the coat hanger part as shown in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 6 and showing the extensible arms in retracted position.

Referring to the drawings the combination chair and clothes valet according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated therein comprises a chair structure of generally conventional construction including a pair of substantially vertical forward legs 110, connected near their upper ends by an inwardly and downwardly offset cross piece 11 suitably doweled or tenoned into place, and connected near their lower ends by a rung 12 suitably doweled into place, and a pair of rearward legs 13-13 disposed at a downward and rearward angle so that the floor engaging point of support of the lower end of these rear legs is substantially rearwardly of their upper ends, these rear legs being connected adjacent their upper ends by a cross piece 14 suitably doweled or tenoned to into place, and connected near their lower 3,149,879 Patented Sept. 22, 1964 ends by a rung 15 suitably doweled into place. The forward and rearward legs are connected at their upper ends by a pair of side pieces Cid-16 suitably doweled or tenoned into place and are connected near their lower ends by rungs 17-17.

A pair of side members 1818 of the chair back connected near their lower ends by a cross piece 19, suitably dovetailed or tenoned into place, are preferably formed of one piece with the rearward legs and are preferably inclined upwardly and rearwardly from the upper ends of the rearward legs at the normal angle of a conventional chair back. The inner opposed sides of the side pieces 18 are vertical and parallel to each other, for a purpose presently to more fully appear.

The chair seat 2') is secured at the upper sides of the side pieces 1616 and the rearward cross piece 14 in conventional manner, for example by angle brackets 21, the rearward corners of the seat having cutouts 22-22 to embrace the side members 18 at their junctions with the rearward legs.

The downward and inward offset of the forward cross piece 11 provides a space at the front of the chair beneath the forward end of the seat 23 to accommodate a slide drawer which may be conveniently employed to store such accessory articles as the user may desire to remove from the clothing while the chair is functioning as a clothes valet. The drawer may be of any suitable construction and in the illustrated embodiment is shown as a plastic receptacle 23 of rectangular form provided with a flange 24 extending outwardly from its upper edge along its four sides. The side flange portions are slidably supported in a pair of guide tracks 2525 secured to the under side of the chair seat and the forward end of the drawer is provided with a face panel 26 secured by screws 27 to the forward wall of the receptacle and by screws 28 to the forward flange portion, the upper edge of the panel being recessed as at 29 to receive the flange. In the normal closed position of the drawer the face panel abuts the cross piece 11 to limit the inward movement of the drawer. The face panel preferably projects slightly below the cross piece 11 as seen in FIG. 1 so that it may be conveniently engaged by the fingers to pull it to open position as seen in FIG. 3.

Pivotally mounted between the side members 18 of the chair back there is provided a combination back and clothes hanger unit 30, comprising a cross piece 31 connected in spanning relation between the upper ends of the side members 18 by pivot pins 3232 rotatably engaged in recesses 33-33 in the side members. The upper ends of the side members 18 are curved as at 34 in concentric relation to the pivotal axis of the pins 32, and the upper surface of the cross piece 31 is correspondingly curved as at 35, for a purpose presently more fully to appear. A plurality of spaced parallel rung members 36-three such members in the illustrated embodimentare doweled at their respective ends into the lower side of the cross piece 31 and into a coat hanger member 37, which in the position wherein the chair is adapted for conventional use, FIGS. 1 and 2, is disposed between the side members 18 where it is positioned against rearward swinging movement through abutment of a projecting rib 38 provided at the forward edge of its lower side with the forward surface of the cross piece 19.

The outer surface 39 of the coat hanger member 37 is curved in concentric relation of the pivot axes of the pins 32, so that the hanger member is free to swing in clockwise direction from the position as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 to the horizontal rearwardly extending clothes supporting position as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. In this latter position it is supported by engagement of the cross piece 31 with a bar 40 spanning the side members 18 and secured thereto as by screws at. The curved surface 35 of the cross piece 31 is such that the hanger unit is free to swing into and out of its clothes supporting position without interference with the bar 50. The upper surface 42 of the bar 40 is horizontally disposed in a plane substantially tangential to the circumferential line of such curved surface 35 so that the side of the cross piece 31 will engage in flat relation thereon in the horizontal clothes supporting position of the hanger member.

As seen more clearly in enlarged detail in FIGS. 6-8, the surface of the coat hanger member 37, which is upwardly disposed in the clothes supporting position as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, is convexly curved as at 43, and a recess 44 extends downwardly from this upper surface, the base wall of this recess including a central horizontal portion 45 and downwardly inclined portions 46-t6 extending from the central portion to the ends of the member. Within the recess there are provided foldable or extensible arm members 4747 pivotally connected by pivot pins 4348, their inner ends being curved as at 49 in concentric relation to the pivot axes so that they may be swung from the folded position as seen in FIG. 8, where they respectively engage the base wall portions 46 inwardly of the pivot axes, into the extended position as seen in FIG. 6, where they are rigidly supported through engagement with the base wall portion outwardly of the pivot axes. In the folded position the arms are releasably held in place by a U-shaped spring clip 51 secured by a screw 51 to the central base wall portion 45, the side legs of the clip being suitably curved to provide yieldable entrance and retaining surfaces for cooperation with the rounded ends 52 of the arms. The arms are preferably tapered between their inner and outer ends so that in the folded position as seen in FIG. 8 they are disposed below the curved surface 43 and, in order to facilitate their disengagement from the retaining clip, are provided with knobs 53 which may be readily gripped by the fingers to swing the arms out of engagement with the retaining clips to the extended position as seen in FIG. 6.

With the arms 47 extended a coat hanger is provided of adequate length to properly engage within the shoulder portion of a coat to shape and support it, and in this respect it is pointed out that the disposition of the rungs 36 substantially inwardly from the outer ends of the coat hanger member 37 permits the collar and lapel portions of the coat to engage normally upon the hanger without wrinkling or distortion. At the same time the disposition of the coat hanger in rearwardly spaced relation to the side members 18 and the back legs 13 and at a substantial height from the floor enables the coat to hang freely without interference from other parts of the chair. It is thus possible for the user to sit in the chair while it is functioning as a clothes valet and lean against the back without contacting the supported coat or other garments, and such as occurs when a coat is hung upon the back of a conventional chair, or in fact upon the coat hanger means of heretofore known convertible clothes valet chair structures which do not permit free hanging of a coat as in the present structure.

Trousers, neckties, socks, etc. may be supported in non-wrinkling fashion upon the horizontally disposed rungs 36. For the purpose of supporting a pair of shoes, also out of interfering relation with anyone sitting in the chair, spaced cross bars 54 and 55 are respectively secured in spanning relation upon the upper and lower sides of the side rungs 17. A pair of shoes may be supported in non-slipping relation thereon with the bar 54 in abutment with the shoe heels. A coat, trousers, necktie and shoes are indicated by dot-and-dash lines in FIG. 3.

It will be noted from FIG. 3 that the extended drawer 23 provides a counterbalance for the hanger unit in the horizontal position of the latter, to the extent that the center of gravity of the chair is shifted forwardly with respect to the floor engaging ends of the rearward legs 13.

What is claimed is:

1. In a clothes valet chair, a seat, supporting legs for said seat, a seat back comprising a pair of transversely spaced upright side members, and a hanger unit including a transverse cross piece pivotally supported by and transversely spanning the upper end portions of said side members for pivotal movement about a transverse horizontal axis, longitudinal hanger means connected at one end to said cross piece, and a transverse coat hanger member connected to the other end of said longitudinal hanger means for disposition in one position of said hanger unit between said side members, said hanger unit adapted to be swung about said horizontal axis from said one position to a horizontal position in which said unit extends to the rear of said side members, said transverse cross piece of said hanger unit including a convexly curved upper surface which is concentric to said horizontal axis and a pair of side surfaces parallel to each other and tangential to said upper surface and which are respectively forwardly and rearwardly disposed in said one position, and a rigid cross bar secured to the rearward sides of said side members having an upper side substantially tangential to the circumferential line of said concentric upper surface of said cross piece and adapted in said horizontal position of said hanger unit to be engaged by said forwardly disposed side surface with the latter disposed horizontally and facing downwardly.

2. In a clothes valet chair, a seat, supporting legs for said seat, a seat back comprising a pair of transversely spaced upright side members, and a hanger unit including a transverse cross piece pivotally supported by and transversely spanning the upper end portions of said side members for pivotal movement about a transverse horizontal axis, longitudinal hanger means connected at one end to said cross piece, and a transverse coat hanger member connected to the other end of said longitudinal hanger means for disposition in one position of said hanger unit between said side members, said hanger unit adapted to be swung about said horizontal axis from said one position to a horizontal position in which said unit extends to the rear of said side members, and means for supporting said hanger unit in said horizontal position thereof, said longitudinal hanger means being substantially inwardly from the outer ends of said coat hanger member to provide free spaces at each side of said longitudinal hanger means and forwardly of said coat hanger member in said horizontal position to allow the collar and lapel parts of a coat engaged upon said coat hanger member to hang freely at each side of said longitudinal hanger means.

3. In a clothes valet chair, a seat, supporting legs for said seat, a seat back comprising a pair of transversely spaced upright side members, and a hanger unit including a transverse cross piece pivotally supported by and transversely spanning the upper end portions of said side members for pivotal movement about a transverse horizontal axis, longitudinal hanger means connected at one end to said cross piece, and a transverse coat hanger member connected to the other end of said longitudinal hanger means for disposition in one position of said hanger unit between said side members, said hanger unit adapted to be swung about said horizontal axis from said one position to a horizontal position in which said unit extends to the rear of said side members, means for supporting said hanger unit in said horizontal position thereof, and a pair of extensible arm members carried by said coat hanger member adapted in a retracted position to be disposed inwardly of the outer ends of said coat hanger member for disposition inwardly of said side members and adapted in extended position to project beyond said ends and outwardly with respect to said side members.

4. The invention as defined in claim 2, wherein said longitudinal hanger means comprises a plurality of spaced parallel rung members disposed substantially at right angles to said cross piece and coat hanger member of said hanger unit.

5. The invention as defined in claim 3, further characterized in that said coat hanger member includes a convexly curved side which is upwardly disposed in said horizontal position of said hanger unit and has a recess eX- tending inwardly from said convexly curved surface, and wherein said extensible arm members are pivotally mounted Within said recess for disposition therein in retracted position and for projection outwardly therefrom in extended position.

6. The invention as defined in claim 5, further characterized by catch means provided substantially centrally within said recess of said coat hanger member and releasably engageable by the outer ends of said arm members in said retracted position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS De Bonald Aug. 14, Dozier Nov. 2, Sill June 18, Guthridge et a1 Nov. 13, Gonczy Nov. 11,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 10, Germany June 7, France July 15, 

1. IN A CLOTHES VALET CHAIR, A SEAT, SUPPORTING LEGS FOR SAID SEAT, A SEAT BACK COMPRISING A PAIR OF TRANSVERSELY SPACED UPRIGHT SIDE MEMBERS, AND A HANGER UNIT INCLUDING A TRANSVERSE CROSS PIECE PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED BY AND TRANSVERSELY SPANNING THE UPPER END PORTIONS OF SAID SIDE MEMBERS FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT ABOUT A TRANSVERSE HORIZONTAL AXIS, LONGITUDINAL HANGER MEANS CONNECTED AT ONE END TO SAID CROSS PIECE, AND A TRANSVERSE COAT HANGER MEMBER CONNECTED TO THE OTHER END OF SAID LONGITUDINAL HANGER MEANS FOR DISPOSITION IN ONE POSITION OF SAID HANGER UNIT BETWEEN SAID SIDE MEMBERS, SAID HANGER UNIT ADAPTED TO BE SWUNG ABOUT SAID HORIZONTAL AXIS FROM SAID ONE POSITION TO A HORIZONTAL POSITION IN WHICH SAID UNIT EXTENDS TO THE REAR OF SAID SIDE MEMBER, SAID TRANSVERSE CROSS PIECE OF SAID HANGER UNIT INCLUDING A CONVEXLY CURVED UPPER SURFACE WHICH IS CONCENTRIC TO SAID HORIZONTAL AXIS AND A PAIR OF SIDE SURFACES PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER AND TANGENTIAL TO SAID UPPER SURFACE AND WHICH ARE RESPECTIVELY FORWARDLY AND REARWARDLY DISPOSED IN SAID ONE POSITION, AND A RIGID CROSS BAR SECURED TO THE REARWARD SIDES OF SAID SIDE MEMBERS HAVING AN UPPER SIDE SUBSTANTIALLY TANGENTIAL TO THE CIRCUMFERENTIAL LINE OF SAID CONCENTRIC UPPER SURFACE OF SAID CROSS PIECE AND ADAPTED IN SAID HORIZONTAL POSITION OF SAID HANGER UNIT TO BE ENGAGED BY SAID FORWARDLY DISPOSED SIDE SURFACE WITH THE LATTER DISPOSED HORIZONTALLY AND FACING DOWNWARDLY. 